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22 Nov 2016

Carlsen-Karjakin Game-8: Karjakin wins, seizes lead

World Champion Magnus Carlsen is down! Sergey Karjakin takes the lead after eight rounds, with 3.5 – 4.5 in his favour. Carlsen is shocked and can’t attend the press conference after a much-tensed game. He took too many risks and avoided the repetition of the moves.

Karjakin beats Carlsen, in classical chess, only for the second time in his career. The first time was in 2012, also with Black pieces. He repeated that today: “It’s much better to play well than to play White“, he said.

Black equalizes after the opening and Magnus know that very well. Of course, the position is played before by both sides. Both of the players have developed their pieces and they are ready for the middlegame plan.

13.a3 a5 14.Nd4 Rfd8 15.Rfd1 Rac8 16.Rac1 Nf8 17.Qe1?!

Black to play

White’s last move Qe1 is mysterious because the queen is no longer protecting the e4-square and the Black’s Knight can land there in the future. Magnus is fighting hard to prove any advantage of his position, but in reality, he’s not playing the best moves.

“Of course, if he takes with the rook he can never be worse here.“, as Karjakin stated in the press conference. Carlsen is fighting for the win and for that reason, he tries to complicate the position. He would like to create an unbalanced position in order to have chances for the win.

In reality, 24.bxc4 is not the best move and now the queenside pawns, a4 and c4, are weak and Karjakin may attack them later on in the game.

Both players were in huge time trouble and three results are possible because the players have less than 2 minutes to reach 40 moves. The move c5 is very surprising. White is trying to complicate the issue, but c5 is a mistake which Black cannot punish in the game.

35…Rxd8 36.Nxd8 Nxc5 37.Qd6 Qd3

White to play

The best square for Black’s queen is d7, because the Queen is the best defensive piece. She can consolidate the defensive side.

Actually, it is very difficult to find the correct move order because the Queen can reach d7 from two different directions.

“I didn’t have time at all to calculate,” Karjakin said about the critical differences between 37…Qd3 and 37…Qa4. “Having one minute on the clock, it was impossible to understand.”

If Black plays Qa4 then White can capture the b6-pawn with Qxb6. This is what Karjakin was concerned about. Perhaps, the computer can find them easily, but it’s very difficult to spot the correct moves during the game. Please note that both players have heavy time pressure.

This was another very risky decision. Probably, White should try for the draw with move repetition, Qg6 and Qg7. In reality, White doesn’t have a forcing draw, but only White should try for the draw. Carlsen pushed very hard in the game. He wanted a decisive result.

Perhaps, he feels that he should prove something. He is the World Chess Champion and he feels the obligation to convert one game into a win, but the position didn’t provide this opportunity for him to do so.

44…Qd8 45.f5 a3 46.fxe6 Kg7 47.e7?!

Black to play

This is another critical moment: White has a lot of options and the best one is Qb5. In the game, White played e7 and exchange the advanced e6-pawn for the b6-pawn.

Now the a3-pawn is the most dangerous pawn in the position as it gives winning chances for Black. 47.Qb5 a2 (47…Nxe6 48.Qb4 Qf8 49.Qxb6) 48.Qb2+ is a possibility.

47…Qxe7 48.Qxb6 Nd3 49.Qa5 Qc5 50.Qa6 Ne5 51.Qe6 h5!

White to play

White was in a big trouble because the passed a-pawn is a killer. Black managed to create a lot of threats in the White’s monarch with the Queen and the Knight. White doesn’t have time to capture the a-pawn.

52.h4 a2 0-1

White resigned in this position because if the Queen captures the a2 pawn, then Black will give check with the Ng4+, then after Kh3, Black will play Qg1.

Black is threatening to checkmate with Qh2# and Queen is covering the two very important squares a7 and b7. White doesn’t have perpetual checks. 53.Qxa2 Ng4+ 54.Kh3 Qg1 55.Qb2+ Kg6 56.Bf3 Nf2+ 0-1

After the game, Carlsen waited for a couple of minutes, alone, at the press conference stage, while Karjakin gave his customary private interview with the Russian television.

Carlsen was visibly uncomfortable (as seen above) and a few moments later, he got fed up and went away. He did not return to attend the press conference.

Sergey Karjakin at the press conference

In the next game, Karjakin will play with White and Carlsen with Black. What do you think? Will Karjakin become the new World Champion, or can Carlsen make a comeback? Feel free to write your thoughts in the comments below.

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